"O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself
a king of infinite space,
were it not that I have bad dreams."
- Hamlet
Act II scene ii

10 October 2013

Artistry

On Sunday I was walking along the course of a former railway line near to Langsett. It was constructed in the 1890's to faciliatate the construction of Langsett Reservoir - carting waste away and bringing materials and workers in. Nature has been doing a good job of reclaiming it so that at times you would be hard-pressed to recognise that it was ever a train track at all.

I took several pictures with Shirley's little Coolpix camera but the shot to the left was certainly the best. It's simple with interesting textures and dappled light patterns amidst the greenery and the tree trunks.

As Carol from Cairns recently pointed out, I have too much time on my hands these days. Time to use the on-line photo-shopping facilities of Lunapic to create first of all, this pencil drawing version of the scene:-

Then this colour pencil sketch:-

And finally this painting:-

But it seems like cheating somehow. Over at Katherine de Chevalle's place - The Last Visible Dog - she has recently posted two fascinating clips of real artists at work - one an oil painter and the other a watercolourist. Both clips are spellbinding. It is amazing what you can do with photo-shopping these days but when all is said and done, it's no substitute for the craftsmanship of real artists, immersed in their work and making visual choice after choice as their pictures are patiently and lovingly developed.

YP, there is a place for the artist in Photoshop. This isn't it nor is it Photoshop. The first image could do with a levels adjustment but is a good picture. The sensor in your camera has twice as many green sites as it does red or blue. Digital does a good job on green. I spot meter green and drop a stop. it saves blow out. It is a good image.

I was entranced by Katherine's videos as well. I learned that I don't paint correctly in either media. I've found that when you become experienced with the special effects for your photos, you can shoot a photo with an effect in mind. Flowers with a very dark background are fun for tinkering.

Speaking of Langsett, great place for bilberry-picking (and bad backs).

Speaking of Yorkshire habits, just who in Sheffield eats croissants for their breakfast?! Have you all gone soft or is it just the councillors? We once saw a croissant in Barnsley back in the 90s but soon ran it out of town.

( ...almost £40,000 was spent on hospitality – but in the first six months of 2013-14, £25,000 has already been spent ... “At a time when every penny counts, it’s difficult to understand why Labour members are increasing the amount they spend on coffee and croissants.")

Quite similar to councillors themselves then - some of the nasty little beeps take some "removing"!(Disclaimer: at no moment should this comment be taken to mean that I believe all politicians are the same etc blah blah blah ...of course.)

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